The Rise and Fall of the Authoritarianist Party of Vacuo
by thisissparta789789
Summary: This story details the beginnings of the Faunus War, as well as the man responsible for it and the worst campaign of genocide in the entire history of Remnant, Gris Manchette. From the start of his despotic rule to the very last day, this story will leave you wondering how such a madman could ever gain any position of power, much less a position as a head of state and government.
1. Chapter 1

_**Years 1968-1972: The Beginning**_

The summer of the year 1968 in the Kingdom of Vacuo seemed charged with worry and excitement. The King, Huojin the Third, was powerless to stop the election of a fairly new political group calling itself the Authoritarianist Party, which had been humiliatingly defeated in the Governing Council elections of 1964 and 1960. Led by a charismatic speaker and a veteran of the Great War, Gris Manchette, the party would capture 71 out of 114 seats in the Assembly and 16 out of 24 seats in the Senate, gaining control over the government and giving Manchette the position of Prime Minister.

This would prove to be the last true election in Vacuo for years to come. By December 1968, the Authoritarianists had outlawed all other political parties and had proposed an amendment to Vacuo's constitution that would grant almost all power to the Prime Minister. When Huojin III threatened to veto it, they threatened to kill him and his family, though this was not revealed until much later. Thus, in 6 short months, Vacuo had transformed from a parliamentary monarchy into a dictatorship.

Once they had the power, they got to work to transform Vacuo into what they called "the Great Society." They immediately passed laws forbidding humans and faunus from marrying, and then went further by passing laws banning sexual relations between them, as well as between persons of the same gender. Then, in 1971, they passed the Menagerie Laws.

Vacuo had purchased an island near Mistral in 1970 as part of a treaty to resolve several issues that came about due to the Great War. It was ironic in the regard that what was meant to be a deal of peace would ultimately lead to war. This island was named Menagerie for the abundant wildlife on the island, as well as the small population of people that was disproportionately faunus. It was believed that this island was where they first originated over 100,000 years ago, according to the theory of evolution. It would prove to be a nightmare for them.

The Menagerie Laws stipulated that the government would "encourage" all faunus to move to the Menagerie Special Territory, and anyone who didn't would be required to register with the government and carry ID cards, as well as pay a yearly fine. It also stripped faunus of their citizenship and reclassified them as state subjects. Additionally, it forbade human females under the age of 45 from working in faunus-owned businesses and households, supposedly for their protection. Among the many other things it banned were:

* Books that were considered un-Vacuouan, including books by faunus authors.

* Faunus from flying or displaying Vacuouan flags or emblems.

* Faunus from visiting government-owned property.

* Faunus and human children from attending the same schools.

* Faunus and human patients from attending the same hospitals.

* Faunus from medical, police, military, rescue, and firefighting positions, paid and volunteer.

In the run-up to the passage of these laws, Manchette cracked down on people in his own party, particularly the infamous Blue Shirts, the old street gang that affiliated with and heavily supported the party in its infancy. Their leader was a man named Citron Fulvous. There were many rumours that he was a homosexual. After all, he was 56 years old and had never married. Manchette also planned to force the Deputy Prime Minister, Liao Guowei, to resign. He was quietly against the anti-faunus policies of the Authoritarianists, but he was rather old, being 74 years old, and since his old political party, the Social Democratic Party, had been banned, he had no one to back him up.

On August 7, 1970, the Night of the Gun Barrels took place. Fulvous was captured in his house with, sure enough, a sexual partner who was also a man. They were both taken to Fulvous's backyard and lined up against a wall. They were then shot to death by 6 secret police officers from the National Security Office, which would later commit unspeakable atrocities against faunus. Liao Guowei, under the threat of death, submitted a resignation to Parliament, which was quickly accepted. In a single night, 26 were killed and exactly 1,864 were arrested, 442 of which were later executed for "treason." Liao Guowei was not arrested, but he lived the rest of his life as a recluse until his death from diabetes in 1977. The official explanation from the government was that the Blue Shirts were planning a coup d'etat. This was obviously proven not true after the fall of the regime.

 _ **Who Was Gris Manchette?**_

Gris Lautrec Manchette was born on April 9, 1920, in the small village of Gury. His father died when he was 12, leaving his mother to care for him. His older brother was named Henri, and worked as a shopkeeper.

In 1935, the Great War broke out, pitting Vacuo, Atlas, and several lesser states against Vale, Mistral, and several other lesser states. After Henri, who was 21, joined the military, Gris signed up by faking his age. For the next 5 years, he fought on the Vale-Vacuo Front, receiving several citations for bravery in action. Tragically, his brother Henri was killed in action in 1938 while leading what would prove to be a very successful charge against a heavily fortified Valeanian bunker, resulting in him being posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor, the highest military award in Vacuo, alongside 2 other living soldiers and 1 dead soldier in his unit.

In 1940, faced with Valeanian forces being just 300 miles from the capital city of Port Vacuo, and Atlas pulling out of the war with a peace treaty a year before, Vacuo surrendered. In the Treaty of Port Vacuo, Vacuo was forced to pay over 20 billion US Dollars to Vale and Mistral each. The only problem was, the war had crippled Vacuo's economy. For the next 28 years, Vacuo's economy stagnated, and unemployment hovered at 15-18%.

After the war, Gris was unemployed and bored. While looking for a place to stay, a friend suggested he go with him to a political sciences study, sparking his interests in political science. For the next 5 or so years, Gris attended many debates and seminars about politics in Vacuo. At one of these debates, he met a group of people called the Vacuouan Authoritarianist Party. He joined them soon afterwards.

On July 7, 1946, he became their leader and set about expanding the party. He began a pamphlet-spreading campaign. Around August, a biker gang composed of Great War veterans named the Blueshirts contacted Gris, saying they wholeheartedly agreed with his positions. He accepted them in and made it the pseudo-armed wing of the party. At the time, many political parties had street gangs that would often battle on the streets. Over the years, the Blueshirts developed a strong rivalry with the Collectivist Party of Vacuo, who had the Red Guard.

The 1948 elections were the first time the party held any seats in office, gaining 13 seats in Provincial Legislatures. Even so, it was miniscule. That same year, Gris published _The Authoritarianist Papers,_ a book that provided an account of his life and laid out his goals for Vacuo and his political opinions, as well as his virulent racism towards faunus.

Until 1956, the party held no seats in the National Parliament. Then, in 1956, they captured 5 seats in the Assembly. In 1960, this increased to 16 Assembly seats and 3 Senate seats. Gris was impressed with his work, but many highly doubt he could have done it without the help of several key allies:

1\. Bo Jintao, the head of the party's campaign section, who would later become the Minister of Information.

2\. Joseph LaFleur, who was a member of a Provincial Legislature from 1948 to 1956 before being elected to the Assembly from 1956 to 1964. After the party rose to power, he became the Minister of Security and War.

3\. Robin Chauveau, who would later become the Deputy Chancellor of Vacuo.

4\. Jou Peng, a key ally in the Royal Vacuouan Air Force who would later become the Senior General of the Air Force.

5\. Henri Lagune, a key ally in the Royal Vacuouan Army, who eventually became the General of the Armies of Vacuo.

All 5 of these allies would later be implicated in various war crimes alongside Gris Manchette himself.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Years 1973-1980: The Rise**_

One of the stipulations of the Treaty of Port Vacuo, alongside its massive reparations, was that Vacuo would cut its air force to 5% of its original strength, its navy to 15%, and its army to 35%. By the time Manchette came to power, the air force was at 21%, the navy was at 30% and the army was at 56%. Manchette believed that Vacuo's military needed to be twice as strong as it was in the peak of the Great War, and thus received many votes from unemployed veterans looking to get back into the military.

In 1973, Gris Manchette and Joseph LaFleur came up with a program to revitalise the military. Key components were:

The creation of a class of aircraft carriers capable of carrying 50-60 aircraft. Vacuo had built 4 carriers in the Great War, but they were destroyed after the war.

A class of fast battleships to replace outdated Great War-era ships.

Jet-powered strategic bombers and fighters. While the RVAF had jet fighters, they were limited in number and were barred from being supersonic.

The restructuring of chemical weapons programs. These had been dismantled after the Great War.

To start the naval side of the project, a massive expansion was conducted at the Scapma Shipyard to build 5 enormous drydocks. As for the army and air force, many new forts and air bases were rapidly constructed.

As Vacuo build up in its military strength, the rest of the world looked at it in worry, yet no one wanted to do anything. No country, whether it was one of the Four Kingdoms or a smaller state, wanted to repeat the horrors of the Great War.

In 1974, a border skirmish occurred between Vacuo and a small state in between Vacuo and Vale on the southern coast of Vytal known as the Democratic People's Republic of Azimuth. Formerly a principality before the Great War, it had fought on the side of Vacuo until a civil war broke out in 1937 that pitted the prince against (reluctantly) Allied-backed rebels that were affiliated with the chief rival of Authoritarianism: Collectivism, an economic system where the workers (in theory) own the means of production. Manchette had made many speeches attacking Collectivists, and had executed hundreds of them in Vacuo. It was only a matter of time before he tried to go after it in other countries.

On September 8, 1974, 6 Vacuouan soldiers and 12 Azimuthian soldiers were killed in a shootout that, according to Manchette, was started by the Azimuthians. In response, he authorised an airstrike to target the border post where the Azimuthian soldiers had come from on September 11, 1974. This killed 43. Azimuth's People's Congress responded by declaring war on Vacuo on September 13, 1974.

Vacuo responded swiftfully and brutally. The next day, 650,000 soldiers from Vacuo marched to the country, which had an armed forces whose combined strength was 500,000. On September 29, Vacuouan forces captured the second biggest city in Azimuth, Kankrina. On October 20, they captured the capital, Voriskyana, after firebombing it and everyone inside it. Finally, on October 29, Vacuouan forces captured the President of Azimuth, Vid Chernyy, and executed him. On the same day, the last Azimuthian forces surrendered. Vacuouan casualties numbered 65,000, compared to 300,000 military and over 5 million civilian casualties for Azimuth, who had a population of 24 million before the war.

The world was shocked, yet no one did anything once again. Many even argued Vacuo was justified because Azimuth had reportedly shot first and because Collectivism was a danger to the rest of Remnant. Vale recalled its ambassador for 4 years, but did not close down its embassy in Vacuo despite many protests.

In 1976, Vacuo reoccupied a demilitarised section of land in the centre of its border with Vale on Vytal. The piece was relatively small, just about 842 square miles and 285,000 residents, but it was rich with coal and steel. Once again, no one did a thing. In that same year, 91% of the 844,000 residents on the formerly Vacuouan island of Vernasa, located in the middle southern portion of Vytal, voted to rejoin Vacuo rather than permanently join Vale.

As all this went on, faunus were beginning to be shipped to Menagerie in large numbers. Vacuo also paid for advertisements encouraging faunus in other states to move to Menagerie. By 1980, over 10 million faunus had moved voluntarily or forcefully been moved to Menagerie. At the time, there were 150 million faunus and 1 billion humans in Remnant, with about 15 million faunus and 87 million humans living in Vacuouan territory.

Even as Vacuo promised of a new and fresh start, many faunus outside of Vacuo were not fooled, especially in Vale, where, at the time, just 20 to 15 years ago, many faunus and humans marched and protested in a massive campaign to end legal discrimination against faunus in Vale. The civil rights leaders of the 1960s in Vale were reinvigorated with a new goal of protesting Vacuouan mistreatment and abuse of faunus. Of course, any attempts to organise such protests in Vacuo would be met with bullets, so faunus outside of Vacuo often protested by boycotting Vacuouan goods and services and protesting outside of Vacuouan embassies.

Gris wrote in his diary about these protests, saying, _"These Collectivists and faunus are all conspiring to take me and Vacuo down to the pits of hell. Well, if that is the case, I will make sure they go down to meet the Devil himself instead!"_

As this went on, Bo Jintao, the Minister of Information, was tasked with painting these activists as dangerous to Vacuouan society. He did this by playing on fears of a faunus-led Collectivist uprising that would enslave all of Vacuo and do horrific crimes such as raping Vacuouan women and killing Vacuouan infants. The Vacuouan public somehow went along with this, at least in public. After all, doubting anything about the party's leadership and decisions could get you a visit from the National Security Office, which would lead to your "disappearance."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Years 1981-1990: Tensions in Remnant**_

The year 1981 started off in Vacuo with a milestone. Said milestone was that Vacuo's GDP had finally surpassed its pre-Great War peak. This was accomplished by large military spending, massive public works, and massive stimulus packages. Additionally, the first of Vacuo's aircraft carriers was commissioned. By this point, 3 new battleships had already been commissioned as well. Once again, the world did absolutely nothing, not wanting to wage a destructive war.

In 1983, the statistics for Vacuo were:

121 million human residents

16 million faunus residents

4 million enlisted military personnel

7,154 military aircraft from all 5 branches of the military (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Hunting Corps)

384 ships and submarines

While this was impressive, Gris wanted more. He wrote in his journal in 1983, "Our numbers are not good enough. We need at least 10,000 aircraft and 600 ships if we are to ever dominate Remnant. I will not go to war with the other kingdoms until I am ready."

In August of 1983, citizens in the Republic of Dragonica, a state located on the southern part the continent of Lindwurm, north of Vytal and west of Atlas, began debating on whether or not to join Vacuo. After all, they all spoke Vacuouan and they shared many customs. There had been movements to join Vacuo in the past, but now, Vacuo's government actively supported it.

On September 6, 1983, a referendum was scheduled in Dragonica, asking the citizens on whether or not they wanted to join Vacuo or remain independent. Gris decided to take action and deployed the Vacuouan military into Dragonica the day before the referendum was to be held. On September 12, Dragonica was declared to be a part of Vacuo, adding 30 million more residents, including 500,000 more faunus.

The mood in Vacuo after this was very upbeat. Many citizens now openly expressed support for Gris Manchette and his government, thinking that with him, anything would be possible for Vacuo. The annual rallies the Authoritarianist Party held in Port Vacuo drew rapidly growing crowds all expressing admiration and adoration of Manchette.

That would all change in 1986.

For years, a resistance movement had been building in the Menagerie area, funded and supported by many faunus organisation from outside Vacuo. They had stockpiled and even made weapons that would one day be used in a massive rebellion against Gris Manchette and his mistreatment of faunus.

Meanwhile, Manchette began to theorise that the only solution to the problem of faunus was to simply get rid of them. Not by exiling them, but killing them. Already, he had imprisoned, experimented on, and worked to death many faunus who were imprisoned for crimes and political opposition, as well as collectivists, religious fanatics, pro-democracy activists, pro-monarchy activists, homosexuals, transsexuals, the mentally and physically retarded, and anyone else who didn't fit in with his idea of a true Vacuouan, and even then, if you spoke up at all against this, you'd be killed.

In 1985 and 1986, he built 5 camps in Menagerie that would hold slave labourers, primarily faunus. He then issued Order 98, which ordered the killing of all transsexual, homosexual, and mentally and physically retarded faunus, as well as the forced institutionalisation and sterilisation of all humans who also fell into those categories.

This proved to be the final straw for the faunus rebel groups. On April 19, 1986, just 7 days after Order 98 was issued, shooting broke out in the main city of the Menagerie, Semzona, when 200 rebels attacked and took over a military guard post in the city. Fighting soon broke out in the other cities in the area, such as Maunin, Houinnet, Surson, and Nalone. By the end of April, the Menagerie territory was a warzone.

Manchette ordered an immediate response. He committed 1,500,000 troops to dealing with the rebellion and ordered the military to increase in size to 10 million. Even so, because of the guerilla warfare tactics of the rebels, it would prove defeating them a difficult task.

In August, Manchette appointed Henri Lagune as the General of the Armies of Vacuo, and tasked him with crushing the rebellion. He also began drafting up plans for what would eventually become the Menagerie Extermination Campaign.

In 1988, the rebellion had lasted for 2 years. The MEC was in full swing. By now, at least 105,000 Vacuouan soldiers and over 2 million faunus had died. The rebels were being badly beaten on the field of battle, but were also inflicting heavy casualties to Vacuo. They decided they needed to make appeals to the international community for support. They coordinated campaigns with civil rights groups in Vale to gather donations in the form of both money and weapons, though the latter had to be done clandestinely. To improve their image abroad, the commanders of the rebellion began issuing leaflets to the rebels instructing them about the international laws of war, and warned that those who mistreated humans or POWs would be punished.

Meanwhile, on Lindwurm, an Authoritarianist-inspired political party in the small Republic of Hachure had taken over the government in 1986. They immediately promised to assist Vacuo in crushing the rebellion, rapidly building up their military and committing 50,000 of their 850,000-strong military to the war. Manchette congratulated them and replied by sending billions of dollars worth of economic and military aid. Hachure, at the time, had a population of 18 million.

Then in 1988, Hachure went to war with the neighbouring People's Republic of Stadia, a small collectivist-run nation with a population of 10 million, including 600,000 faunus, and a military of 350,000. It was previously a kingdom before a collectivist rebellion killed the royal family in 1949. Vacuo immediately dispatched 150,000 soldiers to help Hachure conquer Stadia. By January 16, 1989, Stadia had ceased to exist.

The rest of the world condemned Hachure and Vacuo for the war, and an angry Vale cut off all diplomatic ties to both countries. Manchette said of the matter, "The rest of the world is simply fooled by the collectivist-faunus conspiracy to believe that we are doing a bad thing. In fact, we are doing a good thing, because we are ridding the world of undesirable people, such as homosexuals and transsexuals, among other subhuman groups."

In June of 1989, a battle began at Fort Castle, a small city in Menagerie. What started as a small skirmish soon turned into one of the largest battles of the war pre-1990.

A force of 75,000 Vacuouan and 10,000 Hachurian soldiers faced off against 60,000 Faunus Liberation Army soldiers and over 45,000 armed civilians. The turning point came 12 days into the battle when, on June 26, General Lagune, who had decided to visit the battlefield due to its growing importance, ordered a night-time full-frontal assault on the lines in the southern part of the city.

However, several spotters, due to faunus night vision, spotted a large mass of soldiers approaching from the south and immediately alerted the soldiers and residents of the city. This assault sparked a massive firefight that concluded on June 29, driving Vacuouan forces back.

On July 7, 65,000 faunus reinforcements arrived. On July 10, the FLA launched an assault during the night time, surprising Vacuouan and Hachurian forces. On July 15, General Lagune was found in a tent by rebels and immediately surrendered. The next day, the remaining 42,000 Vacuouan and 2,000 Hachurian soldiers in the area were ordered to surrender.

The Battle of Fort Castle marked a turning point. Manchette angrily fired Lagune from his position and appointed Paul Clement as his replacement. The morale of anti-faunus forces began to drop.

However, new problems would soon turn the focus away from Menagerie.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Years 1991-1992: War**_

Ever since 1986, when the Faunus War began, Vacuo had issued a policy designed to combat arms smuggling to Menagerie: Any aircraft or ship in or above Menagerie territory that didn't display a Vacuouan registry number or display a Vacuouan flag would be attacked on sight. This would ultimately be their downfall.

In 1988, just 4 days after the war with Stadia began, a Stadian cargo ship that had inadvertently crossed into the territorial waters of Menagerie was attacked by carrier-based aircraft from Vacuo, sinking the ship with all 47 hands. The rest of the world condemned Vacuo for the "brazen and callous" attack.

In 1989, there were 2 incidents where general aviation aircraft from Mistral were shot down, leading to the deaths of 6 people. Mistral, as a result, cut off all contact with Vacuo and placed a trade embargo on them.

In December 1990, a plane from Meridia International Air Transport, the flag carrier of the Meridian Republic, a small nation next to Mistral, was intercepted and shot down by RVAF aircraft, killing all 187 people aboard, after it crossed into Menagerie airspace by accident on its way to Vale. To make matters worse, the crash site was then strafed and bombed. Meridia, a small nation of 22 million including 1 million faunus, was furious and declared war on Vacuo on December 21, 1990.

Gris Manchette said, "If the other kingdoms wish to sacrifice another generation to save an insignificant nation from destruction, let them. They will be the losers anyways." He then ordered a force of 350,000 soldiers to descend upon Meridia and "flatten it."

By February 18, 1991, Meridia was crushed and conquered. Mistral was furious about the event, but until now, was not willing to go to war. Then, on February 22, 1991, an event happened that would force the hand of Mistral to act.

On that day, a Mistralian cruise ship was torpedoed by a Vacuouan submarine, killing 1,032 of the 3,723 occupants, for allegedly crossing into Meridian waters. As it turns out, the incident took place in international waters. On March 1, 1991, Mistral declared war on Vacuo and Hachure, forcing the hand of Vale to automatically declare war as per an alliance agreement the next day. On March 4, as per an agreement with Vale, the small, 16-million strong Grand Duchy of North Dragonica declared war. On March 5, Atlas declared war as per an agreement it had with North Dragonica. On March 15, an Authoritarianist rebellion broke out in the Lindwurm-based Principality of Volos, pitting the Princess of Volos and an army of 450,000 against an 85,000-strong rebel force aided by Hachurian and Vacuouan troops.

For the first time since the 1930s, the entire world was at war.

On May 1, 1991, Vacuo invaded Mistral and Vale simultaneously. For the next 6 weeks, they steamrolled their way into both countries. Then, in the Battle of Thermopylae Lake in Vale and the Battle of Sanctum in Mistral, Vacuo was defeated and their advances were stopped.

Even so, Vacuo was still able to crush Volos. On August 17, Authoritarianist rebels stormed the capital of Volos. Luckily, the young 24-year-old Princess of Volos was able to escape to Atlas, who had sent troops to assist Volos and North Dragonica. Having risen to the post in February after her father, the former Prince was forced to abdicate due to cancer, she was scared for her life but determined to free her country. She joined the Free Velos Army and often fought right on the front lines, exposing herself to enemy fire. In one instance, her entire unit wrote the words, "Ich bien Malene," Atlesian for "I'm Malene," on their uniforms in large letters to distract the enemy and show solidarity with Princess Malene II.

On March 12, 1992, Valeanian and Mistralian naval forces intercepted a large strike group of Vacuouan naval ships, including 5 of Vacuo's 8 aircraft carriers and 8 of their 13 battleships, about 62 miles off the coast of Menagerie. By this point, with the fighting on the Vacuouan front, Mistralian front, and Lindwurm front turning into a trench warfare stalemate, things seemed hopeless. Then, from March 12 to March 24, the RVN was crushed by Allied ships, losing 4 aircraft carriers and 6 battleships alongside an assortment of 32 other ships and submarines to a barrage of naval bombardment, missiles, aircraft, and torpedoes at the cost of 2 Allied aircraft carriers and 4 Allied battleships alongside an assortment of 13 other Allied ships.

This victory was widely celebrated, and showed that the Vacuouan military was not invincible. Gris Manchette was, once again, extremely furious. He wrote in his journal, "My navy, my precious navy, was destroyed by those damn Allied powers! It was my pride and joy to have a navy so powerful, and now it has lost half of its strength!"

Meanwhile, on the island of Menagerie, faunus rebels had been enjoying a shower of weapons and money from the Allied powers. They also began stepping up their efforts to attack Vacuouan troops in preparation for Operation Downfall, the Allied invasion of Menagerie, which was to take place in January of 1993.


	5. Chapter 5

NOTE: All monetary values are adjusted for inflation. Conversion rate for Valeanian Lien to US Dollars is approximately 1.43 Valeanian Lien to 1 US Dollar as of 2015. Conversion rate for Vacuouan Pounds (Les livres Vacuouain) to US Dollars is approximately 2.75 Pounds to 1 US Dollar as of 2015.

 _ **Years 1993-1994: Staring Down Fortress Vacuoua**_

On January 3, 1993, the last neutral country in Remnant, the Grand Duchy of Alidade, declared war on Vacuo and Hachure, bringing the entire world into the war. They joined in after a plot to overthrow the government and install an Authoritarianist one in Alidade was revealed the year before. Vacuo responded by invading the country. However, backed by Mistralian forces, the Alidadians were able to evict Vacuouan troops from their territory in July 1993.

On January 19, 1993, Operation Downfall went into action. Over 500,000 Allied soldiers from 4 different countries landed on the beaches of northern Menagerie. On February 11, 1993, the winter offensive into Meridia was launched by Mistral and Alidade. In June 1993, Atlas landed in Stadia and began a campaign to free Lindwurm from Vacuouan rule called Operation AZ40K.

By November 1993, Meridia, Volos, Stadia, and North Dragonica were freed from Vacuouan rule, Vacuouan forces had been kicked out of Mistral, and half of Menagerie was under Allied control. Even so, the Vale-Vacuo front was still a stalemate, with neither side gaining an advantage. In one battle at the Sparti River, from August 1 to November 18, over 750,000 Allied and 500,000 Authoritarianist soldiers were the casualties of the costly and inconclusive battle, as the Allies only gained 12 miles of land.

As the Allies went into the Menagerie, they saw firsthand what many activists had warned about for years: Forced labour camps, ghettos, mass executions, and genocide. Some soldiers committed suicide after seeing such horrific things, while others, particularly other faunus, took their anger out on the guards and killed them after they had already surrendered. The worst camp was the Porte Minette labour camp, which also served as a medical experimentation and death camp. It's estimated over 3,250,000 million died in the Porte Minette camp alone in its 12 years of operation, causes ranging from starvation, shootings, beatings, abuse, medical experiments, euthanisation, and more grisly methods.

As the leaders of the Allies learned of this, they decided that a new international organisation was needed to eventually judge the Vacuouan and Hachurian leaders responsible for these horrid acts. On January 1, 1994, arrest warrants were issued for 30 Vacuouan and 10 Hachurian leaders by the newly created International Military Tribunal for Vacuouan and Hachurian War Criminals. Additionally, many newly freed countries set up their own tribunals to deal with collaborators and lesser leaders. In all courts, the maximum penalty was death. In the IMT-VHWC, death sentences were to be conducted by hanging and, like the IMT, filmed live on TV for the world to see.

In February of 1994, all of Lindwurm was freed from Vacuouan rule after Vacuouan forces evacuated from Dragonica, and Hachure surrendered, its leader, Ditmer Beumers, being captured while attempting to flee the country. In March of 1994, Menagerie was fully taken over by Allied forces. Vacuo was now all alone, and vulnerable.

As this happened, Gris Manchette began to go mad, still insisting he could achieve victory as Vacuo's cities were laid to ruin by air raids. He began to sack many of his generals who he thought were unloyal, even though they were really just facing defeat on the battlefield. He also became a recluse, retreating to his bunker in Port Vacuo. To make matters worse, 2 of his 3 sons were killed in action in May 1994, and his daughter was captured in June and reportedly raped. This made him go even crazier. In an unsuccessful attempt to bring his sanity back, his doctor began giving him cocaine. By the end of 1994, the 74-year-old Manchette used the illicit substance over 10 times a day.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Years: 1995-1996: Smashing the Vacuouan Empire**_

In January 1995, a new king of Vacuo arose to power. He secretly held nothing but contempt for Gris Manchette and his Authoritarianist Party. Within a month of his reign, he decided to hold secret talks with Allied leaders, giving them insider information about the inner workings of Vacuo's government. By now, the royal family and Governing Council were mere figureheads, and Gris Manchette and his inner circle held all power and say in government. He also revealed war plans Manchette had authored. This proved to be a huge help for the Allies, and it allowed them to plan for the breaking of the long and bloody stalemate at the Vale-Vacuo front. In exchange for this, the Allies agreed to exonerate all Vacuouan royal family members of any involvement in war crimes perpetrated by Gris Manchette's government.

Unfortunately, he would pay for this with his blood. On June 18, 1995, he, his 3 siblings, and their 4 spouses were executed by decapitation, and the 12 children and 4 grandchildren of them fled the Kingdom to Vale, who was more than happy to take them in. Crown Prince/King Philippe IV began building a new Vacuouan government-in-exile.

On July 22, the skies above the Vale-Vacuo front lit up as bombs, missiles, and artillery strikes pounded Vacuouan trenches for a continuous 6-hour bombardment from 02:00 to 08:00. At 08:30, a force of 5 million Allied troops charged at the enemy lines. Faced with poor supply lines and low morale, Vacuo's troops soon collapsed and surrendered in droves. By August 1, the Allies had marched over 53 miles into Vacuo, breaking the stalemate. Contrary to what Gris Manchette had said in propaganda that his citizens would welcome Allied forces with bullets, many of them welcomed Allied forces with open arms and cheers.

On September 3, shooting broke out in Port Vacuo as a contingent of 100 soldiers and 1,500 civilians suddenly took up arms against the government. For the next 15 days, Vacuouan forces battled with rebels across the capital city before the short revolt was finally crushed on September 18. Gris Manchette ordered the executions of over 8,000 in response, wanting to scare his subjects into obedience. These executions were completed by October. After this, the Allies, who at first cared little for any sort of Vacuouan resistance, began actively supporting it.

By November 1, the Allies had marched 168 miles into Vacuo. Many leaders optimistically expected the war to end by December. This would prove to be false, because on November 16, Gris Manchette ordered an offensive on loosely-guarded Allied lines near the city of Allois. On November 24, a force of 750,000 Vacuouan troops charged at the Allied lines. At first, the offensive was successful, pushing the Allies back over 40 miles. However, Vavuouan civilians who had recently been conquered by the Allies did not want to be brought under Gris Manchette's rule again, so they often greeted the Vacuouan troops with bullets.

On December 22, an Allied counter-offensive recaptured all of the land the Vacuouans had recaptured, and had pushed Vacuouan forces back another 22 miles, ending the last offensive by Vacuo. For the rest of the war, Vacuo would be on the retreat.

On January 18, 6,500 Atlesian paratroopers landed in the city of Var, about 38 miles southwest of Port Vacuo, and began fighting to capture the city. The next day, another 3,000 Atlesian paratroopers were dropped in. On January 20, Atlesian forces captured the airport. On the same day, the citizens in the city took up arms against their government. Supplied by Atlesian forces, the city was fully liberated on January 26 by the rebels and the Atlesian paratroopers. Once the city was liberated, Atlas began shipping in more troops through the city's airport. These troops were from Atlas and Atlas-supported governments in Dragonica, North Dragonica, Volos, Hachure, and Stadia. By February 1, a force of 75,000 Allied troops were in the city, completely surrounded by Vacuouan troops.

By April, Allied forces had reached Var and were only 33 miles from Port Vacuo. By now, Gris Manchette was going mad. He began preparing cyanide pills for the occupants of his bunker deep in the city to use when the Allies came.

On May 3, Allied forces reached Port Vacuo and took the suburbs. On May 4, an uprising took place in the city, further destabilising the area. It was only a matter of days before the city was captured.

On May 10, Valeanian special forces launched a daring helicopter raid on the bunker Gris Manchette was staying in. After a 3-hour gunfight, Manchette was captured alive and had the cyanide pills he carried confiscated. The next day, the commander of Vacuouan forces in the city, General Yi Song, ordered all troop in the country to surrender, and announced the following:

"TO MY FELLOW VACUOUANS,

After pondering this decision for the past week, and after many great battles, we hereby communicate the following message to the governments and militaries of Vacuo, Atlas, Mistral, Stadia, Hachure, Volos, Dragonica, North Dragonica, Meridia, Azimuth, the Menagerie territories, and Alidade.

In the best interests of the people of the Kingdom of Vacuo, we sent forces to the Menagerie territories to put down an uprising by the local population. After that, we declared war on the other countries of the world to ensure our self-preservation.

However, that was 10 years ago. Now, this war is detrimental to our future as a nation, and it is in the current best interests of Vacuo that we end our involvement.

As of today, the 11th of May, 1996, at 0730 hours, the war is over for Vacuo. We order all forces loyal to the Vacuouan government to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully to the Allied Powers and Vacuouans that have allied with them.

Additionally, the government of Chancellor Gris Manchette has hereby been dissolved per the order of King Philippe IV and the current government-in-exile will take effect immediately."

The war was finally over.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Years 1996-2005: Rebuilding**_

On May 17, Menagerie declared independence as a republic per an agreement between the Allied Powers. The next 2 years would be spent by rebuilding the ruined island nation and turning the former ghetto into a faunus homeland state, as well as drafting a constitution granting all residents of the island, faunus or human, full and equal rights under the law.

On June 18, a new Collectivist government was born in Azimuth. Started by the surviving leaders of the old government before Vacuo invaded and annexed the country, it began to do economic reforms, transforming into a mixed economy while retaining single-party rule.

Hachure, its royal family extinct from the devastation, also became a Collectivist state, turning into the Hachurian People's Democratic Republic. Like Azimuth, it had a mixed economy and single-party rule.

On August 1, land transfers occurred between Vacuo, Vale, and Azimuth, as well as Hachure, Stadia, and North Dragonica. Vacuo and Hachure lost territory as per the final surrender agreement.

The pre-war governments of the other invaded countries quickly returned from exile to pick up the pieces. The Princess of Volos, Malene, instituted an Atlas-backed recovery plan that transformed the impoverished nation into an oil-producing giant.

On September 3, legal proceedings began in the International Military Tribunal for Vacuouan and Hachurian War Criminals, or IMT-VHWC. 33 of the 40 individuals with arrest warrants were brought to trial. 7 of them had died before then. All 33 pled not guilty to the charges laid out against them:

1\. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace

2\. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace

3\. War crimes

4\. Crimes against humanity (humanity referring to humans and faunus)

On March 19, 1997, guilty verdicts were delivered to 30 of the 33 defendants. 3 were acquitted due to ill health. Of these, 16 were sentenced to death, including Gris Manchette, Henri Lagune, Bo Jintao, and Joseph LaFleur. Robin Chauveau and Jou Peng had died by then.

On July 18, the 16 that were sentenced to death were led to the gallows. On live television, Gris Manchette walked up first. By now a very frail man, his last words were a request not to be hooded, which was accepted. A rope was secured around his neck, and the trapdoor opened below him. 10 minutes later, he was declared head from hanging. As he dropped through and got his neck broken, the over 300 witnesses started clapping and cheering.

By 1998, the Vacuouan government had effectively turned the clock back to 1968, before Gris Manchette was elected. Now the task at hand would be to rebuild the economy.

In 1999, the Allies developed the Delwyn plan, named after its creator, King Delwyn III of Vale. It led to over 250 billion Lien (175 billion USD) in aid to the war-torn countries of Remnant. In just 10 short years, Vacuo turned from a war-torn state to the 4th largest economy in Remnant.

The White Fang was founded in 1996 to foster human and faunus relations after the war. However, despite legal victories, individual prejudices remained in many countries, especially Vale. As time went on, some members began to press for more confrontational methods of action, and later, more violent ones. In 2009, a coup in the group occurred, and its former leaders were forced to leave. The new leaders were violent and transformed the group into a terrorist organisation. As a result, the National Association for the Advancement of Faunus cut ties with the White Fang and accepted many of its peaceful members who had either left on their own accord or had been forced out.

In the years after the war, Vale grew. Formerly the 4th biggest economy, by 2005, it had become the 3rd. By 2010, it had become the 2nd. In 2019, it finally eclipsed Atlas and became the most powerful economy in Remnant. Another effect of the war on Vale was that it led to many reforms in mental health services due to a high rate of PTSD amongst Faunus War veterans.

To conclude, the Faunus War changed Remnant forever. It led to the deaths of over 70 million people, including 12 million in the Menagerie Genocide. These 12 million include 10 million faunus as well as homosexuals, the mentally and physically retarded, prisoners of war, political opponents, religious minorities, and anyone else who did not fit Gris Manchette's twisted idea of a Vacuouan. Its effects will be felt for centuries, and it will be remembered as the both the darkest and the finest hour of Remnant.

 ** _THE END_**


End file.
